In '84, Mighty Altamonte Also Had Its At-bat For Glory

History Repeated Itself At The 2001 Little League World Series. Substitute The Players, Year And The City . . .

August 30, 2001|By Mike Thomas, Sentinel Columnist

We shall forever remember Zach Zwieg, so young and so glum, standing there with his hands on his head, contemplating the ball that scooted by him as balls have so cruelly scooted by infielders for more than 100 years.

Hopefully the Apopka Little Leaguer will put that miscue at third base into proper perspective and focus on the team's amazing accomplishment.

But even time does not heal all Little League wounds.

Meet Jimmy Musselwhite, the guy who blames himself for Altamonte Springs' loss to Korea in the 1984 Little League World Series.

Musselwhite was the starting pitcher. Korea scored four runs off him in the first inning and won the game 6-2.

Musselwhite went on to star in high school and college, and to play for the Yankees farm system. But he never got over that one loss. He couldn't even watch Apopka play on TV from his Tampa home because it would have dredged up too many painful memories.

"My wife says I need to seek some help," he says.

But hasn't 17 years and an adult perspective dulled the pain?

"As I get older, it bothers me even more," he says. "The opportunity we had. I blame myself. If I didn't do that in the first inning, it would have been an entirely different game."

What did he do?

"I didn't even have my mind set on the game," he says. "I was so interested in all the hoopla and pictures and autographs. Jim Palmer and Earl Weaver were there. It didn't occur to me to get ready to pitch. I had 10 minutes to warm up. It took me that first inning to get ready. It was a mess. That's what I think about."

`WHY DID I DO THAT?'

He sighs on the phone and seemingly sidetracks into a conversation with himself. "Why didn't I get ready? Why the hell did I do that? I know I was only 12."

The 29-year-old man sounds 12 once again.

"Jimmy can't do that," says Jerrey Thurston, manager of the Altamonte team. "I take full responsibility for the loss. I remember that game, inning by inning. To this day, you can't convince me we didn't have the best team. If only I had done a couple things different. The coaches are the ones traumatized."

Like his former pitcher, Thurston found it too painful to watch Apopka play.

"I don't watch the Little League World Series," he says. "After 17 years, I still can't do it."

Maybe this is because Altamonte fell from an even loftier perch. As good as the Apopka team is, the Altamonte team had an even more impressive run.

It was 16-0 before playing Korea, often winning games by double digits. It swept the district and regional tournaments, beating even Chipper Jones' team.

"We pounded people," says Musselwhite.

"We killed people," says pitcher and outfielder Aaron Iatarola.

"We just destroyed people," says Danny Albert, the first baseman.

5 MADE IT TO THE PROS

Five boys from the team went on to play pro ball, including Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox. The Altamonte players called Jason "Batman" for his hitting prowess.

Only four American teams went to Williamsport in 1984 instead of the current eight. It was a single-elimination tournament. Altamonte beat the California team 2-1 in the opening game behind Musselwhite's two-run homer. The team then beat Indiana 4-2, setting up the game with Korea.

"The Koreans marched around during practice," says Iatarola. "They were so militarized. Once they found out we were going to play them, they totally ignored us. It was an intimidation thing."

"Jimmy did have a tough first inning," says Albert. "But Jimmy won so many games for us pitching and hitting we never would have been there without him."

"For that one day, we had to put it all together and we didn't," says Jerrey Thurston Jr., the manager's son, team catcher and now a player in the minor leagues. "We lost as a team."

And while not widely publicized, there were allegations of age cheating then just as there were this year against the Bronx, N.Y., team.

"I won't address that," says the senior Thurston. Then he adds, "When our kids went in to take showers with their kids, there was a difference."

NO PARADE, NO PASSES

The Altamonte team did not return home to a parade. Several supporters met its late-arriving flight at the airport, though, and there was a small caravan back to town. The team did not get an eight-page special section in the newspaper or lifetime passes to theme parks. But players did get the perfunctory Disney parade. They also were introduced on the field before a Tampa Bay Bucs game.

"There were about five fans there," says Iatarola. "It's when Tampa was real bad."

Afterward, there were team reunions. But they died out after about four or five years. Some of the kids ended up competing against each other in high school.

As for how they feel now?

"A lot of memories came back in the last few weeks," says Iatarola, who played in the minor leagues and now coaches baseball at Olympia High School. "It was huge. It was everything they make it out to be. It has quite an impact on your life."